Kimo Was Robbed

Every now and then, you have to call them as you see them. Now, I know some of you might say what

about Nogueira vs. Rodriquez?  Why didn’t we write something on that? It’s a pretty simple answer. 

Grappling is subjective at best. Some give points for defense, others don’t. Some give points for attempted

submissions, others don’t. It’s different from organization to organization, heck, even from within

organizations.  But the one rule that has been constant in boxing and kickboxing is that if a fighter cannot

answer the bell for a round, the fight is over.

Now, Sapp was cut above the eye in his bout with Kimo at the end of the first round. The doctor had the

opportunity to check the cut or eye during the one-minute rest period. That’s what I see in boxing and

kickboxing all the time. I’m sure you’ve heard the trainers yelling -  he’s fine, he’s fine, no worries to the

doctor or ref during the breaks. I’ve never, until today, seen a fight stopped for a timeout at the beginning of a

round where one opponent was a step away from la la land.

Why did Sapp get to have his minute rest plus a two-minute timeout?

Let me start from the beginning.

Kimo, is probably one of the most underrated fighters out there right now. His background is MMA but he

had the courage to take the fight under K-1 rules. He signs to fight, who is arguably, the most famous up and

coming fighter - Bob “The Beast” Sapp.

And not to take anything away from Sapp but he is not known for his skills or technique but for his size. 

And once again, Kimo comes into a fight as the big time underdog.

This, though, is a fight that people will be talking about for years.

Kimo, surprising everyone, was able to absorb the huge punches that Sapp landed in the opening round and

was able to come back with his own punches.

For every three to four punches that Kimo landed, Sapp land one - but when you are as big and strong as

Sapp, that’s all it takes to KO your opponent.

But Kimo would not go down easily. And when he finally did go down, he got back up. You could just see

the surprised look on Sapp’s face when Kimo was ready to go at it again. 

And by this time, towards the end of the round, both fighters were exhausted.

Now, Kimo connected with a couple of good kicks to the mid-section early in the round that seemed to be

taking effect at the end of the round.

Kimo connected with a straight left that opened up a small cut above Sapp’s eye. Sapp had his moments

throughout the first round as he sent Kimo flying back with every punch but at the end of round - one of

Kimo’s punches had Sapp hurt, and if not hurt, for sure super exhausted.

Kimo landed some great lefts and rights that sent Sapp back and wobbling. With 20 seconds left in the

round, Kimo sends Sapp to the ground with a tremendous left - Sapp gets an 8 count and barely gets back

up and the bell rings.

Here comes the shocker - instead of the traditional one-minute rest, Sapp gets a minute rest plus a two-

minute timeout rest. For a total of three minutes of rest.

Why ?

They say that the doctor was checking on his eye during the timeout but the cut didn’t seem that bad to me

that it would affect his eye. I thought that if a fighter could not come out right away for the next round, he is

out. I’ve seen this in boxing and kickboxing. If you don’t come out for the bell, you lose.

What were the people in Sapp’s corner doing? Where was the Doctor during the one-minute rest? Why didn’t

he check his eye then? Why two more minutes of rest? Does this mean that any K-1 fighter who is weary

before a round starts can get the doctor to call a two minute timeout to get whatever checked and

recuperate?

And obviously Kimo thought that by not answering the bell, you lose because he started to celebrate his

victory in the ring, throwing his hands up as the winner.

But no, the ref says that they called a timeout. How convenient. Sapp was still in bad shape.

But, because of the long, well-needed rest, Sapp recovered and they let him continue. Needless to say,

Sapp was able to land a couple of good rights after they clinched and struggled with each other - one to the

left face area that made Kimo turn away and then Sapp followed up with another right to the back area off

Kimo’s head that sent him down and out for the count.

Kimo didn’t seem hurt, just exhausted.

I have to do a little more research on the K1 rules because I know they allow fighters to recoup if they been

fouled but there was no foul.  I just don’t think Sapp would have been able to recover if he only had the one-

inute rest instead of what they actually gave him. Sapp was in very bad shape at the end of the first round

and what would have been the beginning of the second round.

Nothing against Sapp, he did what he had to do. 

My gripe is with the two minute timeout regardless of who was fighting. In this instance, Sapp got an early

Christmas gift.

And Kimo got robbed.

Al and tfg.tv

(8/15/03)